Pivoted spring clip



Sept. 25, 1951 w. COHEN PIVOTED SPRING CLIP Filed Feb. 9, 1950 INVENTOR W/Ll/AM COHEN.

BY y-A ATTOKNE).

Patented Sept. 25, 1951 7 'rrvo'mn srmne'omr William Cohen; New York, N. Y. Application February 9, 1959', Serial 1 4's',2o9

This invention relates to a spring-urged clip for skirts, trousers, and. the like.

'Skirt and trouser clips, are frequently provided on garment hangers, and especially garment hangers which are made of steel wire, bent to appropriate shape. In many cases, the wire of the hanger proper comprises an integral part of the skirt and trouser clip in the sense that the several component parts of the clip are pivotally mounted thereon. More especially, the wire of the garmerit hanger constitutes the pintle of the clip.

It is a conventional practice to mount these clips on the wire of the garment hanger before said wire is bent to garment hanger shape. This procedure renders the manufacture of such clipequipped garment hangers rather difiicult and costly. Efforts have accordingly been made to devise skirt and trouser clips'of this general character which may be applied to the garment hanger following its formation as such. In each case, the clip has been designed to be independent of the wire which constitutes the garment hanger so that the clip is a complete en- 'tity in itself prior to its application to, and irrespective of, its'application to the garment hanger. In other words, the wire which constitutes the garment hanger, in such caseno longer serves as the fulcrum or pivot of the clip.

Clips of this type have been found Wanting in many respects, and despite the advantage of be- '1 Claim. (Cl. 24-252) ing able to mount them after the garment hanger is formedjthey have not succeeded in superseding conventional clips which must be applied to the wire before its formation into the garment hanger.

- The principal object of the present invention is the provision of a skirt and trouser clip which may be readily mounted upon a wire garment hanger frame following its formation as such and which includes the wire of said hanger frame as an integral part thereof. scribed and claimed affords two distinct advantages: it may be mounted on a completely formed hanger or frame and when so mounted cannot be removed without destruction, and it utilizes the wire of said garment hanger or frame as its pivot or fulcrum. Some of the skirt and trouser clips of the prior art may be mounted on a completed garment hanger and others utilize the wire of said hanger as their fulcrum or pivot; but both features and advantages together cannot be found in-any one skirt and trouser clip of the prior art. And of those that may be mount- .ed onxa previously bent wire frame,, none are adapted to become permanently'secured to the wireframes. They may be removed as easily as the'iy'weremounted.

A skirt and trouser clip made in accordance with the present invention comprises but three component parts in addition to the wire of the The clip herein de- 2 garment hanger which-serves as the pivot -or fulcrum of said clip. These component parts may be "listed as follows: a pair of pivotally mounted, coacting grip members and a spring member which engages said grip members and urges them into tensioned engagement with each other. "These grip members ,are'provided with hook formations which engage the wire of the garment hanger, and it is by this means that they are enabled to make 'use of said wire as their pivot or fulcrum. The spring member is nested in the manipulating ends of the grip members and also engages the wire of the garment hanger, to prevent the grip members from disengaging the wire, and also to serve assupporting means whereby said grip members may be supported by said wire. I 7

It is accordingly another important object of this invention 'to provide'a spring-urged skirt and trouser clip of the character described, which may be easily assembled on a preformed wire frame for permanent use therewith;and wherein the spring serves as the means which supports the clip on the garment hanger. One of the important advantages flowing from this feature is the fact that the heavier the garment happens to be, the surer will be the supporting action of the spring. By'the same token, the supporting action of the spring will be enhanced in direct relation to the thickness of the cloth which the clip engages. In otherwords, a heavy garment will be supported by the clip under discussion with even greater strength than-a lighter garment or a garment which is made of thinner material. I

A preferred form of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a skirt and trouser clip made in accordance with said invention, showing it mounted on the wire of a conventional Wire garment hanger.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the two grip members thereof.

Fig. 8 is a perspective viewof the spring member.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the clip, showing it mounted on the wire of the garment hanger. and

showing said wire in cross-section. Fig. 5 is avertical section through said clip. Fig. 5A is a cross-sectional'view through'said clip, as indicated by line 5a5a of Fig. 42'

Fig. 6 is an inside view of one of the grip membars.

3 of the wire of the garment hanger proper. These three component parts are a pair of grip members H and 12, respectively, and a U-shaped spring member5I-3. The fulcrum of the clip isthe wire l4 of conventional wire-garment'hangeri-l 5.

It will be noted that the two grip members H and I2 are identical with each other; that isj to say, no rights or lefts are required. And it will further be noted that they are pivotallyconnected to each other about wire [4. They are her which liesbelow'the hook-shaped formations is designated inthe drawing bymeansof the reference character 23,.andconstit'1ites the. gripvpingjaw of .the grip member. It willbe noted [that the hook-shaped formations 2i and '22 are 7 edge thereof. And it will further'be noted thata rounded flange 25 is formedv along the top. and ,side edgesof the.gri p member,. above the hook- .shaped formations. Flange 25- is of inverted U- ,shape and its downwardly extending legs 25a ,and 251) are, continuous with. the twohook-shaped formations 2 I.

The hook-shaped formations 2! are clearly .adapted to enga e wire 14 of garmenthan'ger l5. ,Since thetwogrip members are identical and @since one of the hook-shaped formations of each grip member is slightlyofiset fromtheside edge thereof, the two Qgrip .members will be, closely aligned witheach other across. wire M. In other words, jaws 23 will meet each other squarely and neither will over-hang the other, either laterally or otherwise. The same .istrue of ,;the .manipulating finger portions. 22 -which will also bein-alignment with each-other so that. neither :isoffset from the other :whenthegrip members of which they are a part are-mountedon wire l4.

Spring member'l3 is, preferably thoughnot necessarily, a leaf-springwhichis bent to approximately U-shape, its two arms Km and I3!) being in diverging relationto eachrother-as Figs. 3 {and .5 clearly show. .These armsare rounded at their end portionsto correspondto vthe curvatureof flanges .25 of thetwo grip members I I and 12,. respectively. .Thedimensions of .therarms of the spring member are such. as .to enable "them to fit between vertical portions 25a. an'd'25b of the twofianges'2 5, and thus nest within the'manipulating portions. This has the effect, notonly of retaining the springin'proper'relation to..the two grip members,'but also of'maintaining vthe two grip members in lateralalignment with-each other. This will veryclea'rly be seen in "Figsyl and'5.

.and .being confined by thefia'n'gesiS. Hence, when thej'clip engages agarrnent such as skirt tions'2l. .(SeeEjgs. 1, 4,:and- 5.) .spring member- 13 is thenplacedibetween the two In order to mount the clip on wire H, the two gripping members H and [2 are hooked thereon by means of their hook-shaped forma- The U-shaped grip members, immediately above wire [4. The

two arms of the U-shaped spring member are ,broughtinto abutment with the inside of the two grip members above the wire. Flanges 25 ;.confine:the two arms of said spring member and prevent them from becoming dislodged relative to the grip members. Stated differently, the curved yokeportion I3c of spring member I3 is brought to rest upon wire l4 and the two curved end por- ..tions,of arms |3a ,and"l3b.are nested withinand brought into engagement; with the 'curve'd'portions of flanges 25. It willbe noted that:.any

tendency toward relative lateral. movementbetween the two gripping ,members is effectively averted by. reason of the spring j'n'esting within and the weight ofjthe garment. exerts a downward pull upon thefclipfithe spring member 13, confined by flanges 25, will resist su'chlpulli and prevent llislodgment of "thefc'liprelative toffthe wire. .'It will benotedthatthe widerthe jaws .23 of theg'rip membersare requiredtoopenin orderf to .accommodate Ia garment, -the more "narrowly. spaced will .be the upper L'finger portions thereof. Thiswill havefthe .effe'ctof decreasing the angular distance which separates the two arms ofgthe U-shapedspring. membenand will strengthen the resistance...of..saidlspring member to the downwardpull of .the'garment.

The foregoing is, descriptive of a preferredform of this invention, and it will .be clearly. apparent that other forms and modifications i'of 'thefldescribed form maybe hadwithin. the. broadiscope and coverage of the inventionas 'definedjinpthc appended claim.

Having thus described .my invention, what 11 claim as new and .desire-tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

A garment clip of the character described,,comprising a pair of grip membershaving manipulating portions atone end and coaoting jawsatlthe other end, .a pintlefonpivotally uniting rsaid grip members, hook-shaped ears on said grip members which engage said-. zpintle wtO' dispose-the.- two, grip members in coacting,; pivotal relationship, ,flange vformations on the manipulating portions,-- and-a REFERENCES .,CITED .The following; references .:are .zof::recoizd.:in the 'flle of this patent:

UNITED I STATES Ti -NEE!NZHS Number Name Date 1,635,833 Gerbaczewskl 2Iii 1y. 1 2,1193'7 2,063,924 Ha'nko -JDecf1'5f1936 2,525,985 'Weymouth Oct. 1"], "1950 

